


Sunshine, Lollipops, and Rainbows

by LuckyKaiX



Series: Sunshine, Lollipops, and Rainbows [1]
Category: Eddsworld - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Gen, Gore, Horror, Original Character(s), Original Story Illustrations, POV First Person, Psychological Horror, Tord's POV, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-12
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-16 13:55:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28707768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LuckyKaiX/pseuds/LuckyKaiX
Summary: "Maybe if you give this world a chance, you'll actually enjoy it!"Occurring in the events after "The End", Tord has returned to Edd and his friends and everything between them has been repaired. A couple of days before Halloween, Tord is left alone all night, falling asleep and waking up in a whole other world. Everything is so bright and colorful, music plays everywhere, and even his friends are there. How exciting! It almost makes you want to never wake up!Characters in the tags that don't have "(SL&R)" next to them do not belong to me, but to Eddsworld.☆For those who prefer Wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/story/254692839-sunshine-lollipops-and-rainbows
Series: Sunshine, Lollipops, and Rainbows [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2104422
Comments: 38
Kudos: 15





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> As innocent as I want this to seem, the warnings at the beginning are no joke. This is a violent, gory, horror story that has illustrations going with that. If you wish not to deal with any of that then please do not read this. If you choose to go on then I really hope you enjoy it!  
> \- Kai☆

☆ “And slowly… very slowly… she crept towards him. He could hear her nails scraping against the wall very slowly,” whispering could be heard from all over the dimly lit room I sat tensely in. A low, chilling breath moved about in the silence of the dark. Light footsteps creaked the floorboards, the subtle sounds leaving my head swarming with anxiety.

I couldn’t see the person that was stalking around me, but I knew there was something there. I tried my hardest not to let the fear show on my face and looked around constantly for any sign of quick movements in my direction. On my left, my hand was clenched tightly in a fist, on my right, flickers of blue light came to life beside me.

In the silent atmosphere, no one dared to speak, not even the other two people that were with me. I could feel my eyes drift over to the guys in the corner, and while it was hard to make them out, their faces could be seen in the eerie moonlight. One was curled up in a purple hoodie, his skin looked pale in the light of the night as frightened mumbles could be heard from his shaking body. His head sank further into hiding until only fiery, orange hair could be seen.

“He could feel her breath behind him moving very slowly…” the voice continued on while my gaze shifted to the other person by the window. His brown hair had almost blended in with the dark, but the grey t-shirt in contrast reflected the little light that was in the room. He turned to meet my look when suddenly his eyes went wide in my direction. My blood ran cold, I knew _he_ was right behind me.

A loud roar erupted from the back of me and all of the pent up nerves inside exploded all at once. My scream was shaken by the person grabbing my shoulders and rocking me around violently. A jumble of cuss words left my mouth as I fought to get him off of me. It all came to a stop once bright rays of light stung my vision. The person behind me backed off and cackled loudly, falling to the floor in a fit of laughter.

“Wow! I got you good this year, didn’t I commie?” the British accent in the person’s voice was a lot clearer now. “Ha, you should’ve seen your face!” I shook with annoyance and grabbed the nearest couch pillow, turning around quickly to face the man.

“I swear to god Thomas!” I shouted and held the pillow over my head.

“Hey, hey! That’s enough Tord,” the person with brown hair giggled from beside the light switch. My eyes moved from him to the person beneath me who had the most smug grin I had ever seen. I sighed, put the pillow back, and smiled with a glare.

“You got lucky this time Tom,” my words were muttered through my teeth. Tom snickered and sat up, straightening his light brown hair from when he had rolled around on the floor.

“Thank you, Edd. You’re my hero,” he spoke, walking over to sit in the middle of everyone. I was left with crossed arms and rolling eyes that soon met with the other person still cowering in the corner. My irritated expression quickly shifted into confusion at the ginger still hiding in the inside of his hoodie.

“Uh, Matt? You know that the story ended, right?” I asked. Matt glanced up enough so I could see his worried eyes.

“So, no one is coming for my precious face?” he questioned back. I shook my head and held a hand to my forehead, pinching my eyebrows.

“Hvorfor er du så dum?”

“What?”

“I said you’ll be just fine,” I lied with a smile. Being the only Norwegian living with a bunch of Britts, it’s always funny when they don’t understand what I’m saying. Edd and Tom did kinda laugh beside me since they knew it was something insulting.

“You know Tom, that story that you told was really good this year,” Edd commented while making his way back to his spot on the couch. “They seem to be getting better each year.” Matt nodded furiously next to Edd in agreement.

“For the record,” Tom started and I groaned, already knowing that he was about to start boasting about how good his story was. “I scared Tord. Give me the win so we can get ready for Halloween tomorrow,” at this, my eyes widened and I sat up straight. Worry settled in my mind as I looked down at the floor in thought. I was pretty jumpy this year, wasn’t I? Out of every scary story night that happened before Halloween, none have scared me as badly as this. Even Edd and Matt’s stories made me flinch a little. 

Maybe it was the darkness of the room? The feeling of being watched at every turn? I felt my chest grow tight as I subconsciously lifted my right hand to the right side of my face. Cool metal pressed lightly against rough scars, slowly moving upwards towards my eye. My eyelids closed as I lightly pressed my hand down, feeling the round eyeball with an uneasy breath. Relax, it’s there.

“Tord, what the hell are you doing?” I jolted and quickly put my hand down upon hearing Tom’s voice. Everyone was looking at me with concerned faces. God, what was I doing? I coughed slightly to clear the lump that was in my throat.

“Beklager, uh, sorry,” I mumbled like a fool. “Eh, just thinking about some things.”

“Like what?” Edd questioned further and I cringed. Damn it Edd, why do you have to push it? “It’s not about your face is it?”

“I still think he looks better that way,” that dumb Jehova’s Witness laughed at his stupid statement. When no one laughed with him, he muttered “lame” and took a quick drink from his flask. Ignoring him, I answered back.

“No, Edd, I’m just…” my voice died as I trailed off. I couldn’t just tell them about what was tormenting my mind. It wouldn’t make any sense, unless, wait of course! I hadn’t told a scary story yet. If I told them about what was freaking me out in the form of a horror story, then we could all move on from this. _I_ could move on from this.

“Tord?” Matt asked, making me realize I had taken a while to answer. With a small sigh, I slowly turned my head to face Matt with an evil smirk. The ginger yelped and hid right back into his hoodie.

“It’s my turn to tell a scary story, right?” my voice rumbled lowly in my throat as I crept off of the couch and hid behind it. From where I was I could hear Edd gasp excitedly and Tom grumble, probably rolling his nonexistent eyes.

“You think you can scare me, commie?” Tom questioned, liquid being swished around as he took another sip out of the same flask. At this moment, I jumped up from behind chuckling.

“Think, heh heh, I know,” I held back a laugh when I heard Tom gag, almost spitting out his drink in surprise. Soon enough, I made my way to the light switch that Edd was once at. The closer I got, the more dread seemed to slow my movements. With a shaky breath, I attempted to push the sickening feeling down and shut off the soft, safe glow of the lights.

Just tell the story. Tell the story and be done with it. You can’t keep thinking about it.

“Gather around everyone. I’m about to tell you a story so frightening, you won’t be able to sleep for weeks. Some could even say this is a true story. Either way, get comfy. This is gonna be a long one.” ☆


	2. Chapter 1: 3:00 AM

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After living with his friends once again for a while, Tord finds himself feeling at home, like how things used to be. But how will he feel days before Halloween when things don't go as planned?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for all the support already! It's absolutely crazy and I'm so happy you're enjoying the ride so far. Happy reading! - Kai☆

☆ It had been some time since the “Giant Robot Incident”, I wanna say a year and a half. Although it took some time, things between my friends and I seemed to be alright again. Once I had left for Norway empty-handed, I started to get this strange, awful feeling shortly after my arm amputation. Paul and Patryk knew that I was acting odd, so they suggested that I go back to my friends in London. After a couple of months of debating with myself, I called the whole Red Army project off and prepared to move back once more. 

I knew that I destroyed the house previously, so I ended up having to call Edd in order to figure out where he and the others had moved to. I fully expected rejection, so to say I was nervous was an understatement. I remember Tom didn’t even want to speak to me, and Matt didn’t even remember who I was, so of course, he was okay with it. Edd, while hesitant, decided to give me one more chance, though I had a lot to prove. I was really surprised to know that Tom somehow bought a whole apartment complex, so there was plenty of room for me to stay. 

I got my own apartment across from Tom. Edd was to my right and Matt was across from him. The first few times we all hung out together, things were awkward, but a lot has changed since then. There was plenty to do in the apartment and the adventures never stopped. Before I knew it, I was already four days away from another Halloween.

☆☆☆

Gentle morning light urged my eyes to slowly open wide. With a groan, part of my body seemed to weigh down further into my bed, wanting to sleep nice and cozy just a little longer. The other part knew I had things to do, like preparing for the upcoming holiday. That was enough energy my body needed to take a nice stretch and roll out of bed. Sitting on the side of where I woke up, I took a deep breath in, letting the air of the day fill my lungs, and smiled to myself.

Besides Christmas, Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. Tricking people was so much fun, getting candy was the best, but the scares were what I lived for. I chuckled while I cleaned up my room, thinking of what scary pranks I could pull on my friends. Maybe we could go to a haunted house this time, that is if I don’t get us banned again. Do they really expect me not to bring in guns? What if I brought a paintball gun? They’re practically harmless.

All the possibilities rushed through my mind while I walked through my maroon walled apartment. The living room, kitchen, and bathroom were all a nice size, and pictures of my friends and I were hung up on some of the walls. My hentai posters were hung up in my bedroom nice and neatly. The carpet held every step I took as I made my way to the front door. 

Opening it, the light of the hallway shined down on all of the apartment doors. I figured that Edd and Matt were already set for the day, but Tom always took way longer than the rest of us to wake up. And of course, since I was across from him, being the human alarm clock was my job. I quickly knocked on the door and waited, my foot tapping against the floor impatiently. When minutes went by with no response, I tried once more, this time calling out to him.

“Våkn opp ananas hodet!” my words bounced off of the walls in the hall until they faded into silence. A huff of frustration left my lips and I turned around to head to Edd’s apartment. If anyone could wake Tom up that wasn’t me, I’m sure he could. I lifted my robot arm to knock on the door, but a bright, yellow sticky note froze my body.

What the? When did they decide this? To my disbelief, I picked up the note and examined it further, and, sure enough, it was Edd’s handwriting. Why me? He should’ve made Tom do it since he’s so lazy. Well, maybe that wouldn’t be such a good idea after all. Pinching my eyebrows with a sigh, I made my way back into my apartment and grabbed my set of keys in my bedroom drawer. My eyes were set on the four keys with color-coded tape on them, each leading to someone’s apartment.

I could already hear Ringo meowing anxiously from behind Edd’s front door as I closed mine. Once I did make it to his living space, it wasn’t long before the grey and black cat rubbed against my leg. As bummed as I was about cat-sitting, I couldn’t resist her wide, shimmering eyes. Leaning down and holding my arms out, Ringo jumped right into me and nuzzled against my face, the feeling of soft fur urging a smile out of me.

The two of us made our way back to my apartment once more after a couple of trips of moving Ringo’s things. I ended up in the kitchen where I set her food and water bowls against the hardwood floor. The sound of kibble clanking against the food bowl caught Ringo’s attention quickly, and with a small flick of her ear, she jumped off of my shoulder.

“You and I have the same idea,” I snickered to myself and proceeded to pour myself a bowl of cereal. I was on the couch watching TV in no time, the cold cereal bowl in my lap as I flipped through the channels. After finding nothing else good to watch, I ended up hate-watching the fifth season of a show called “The Children”. I really never understood why Edd and the others like this show, but it was nice to make fun of.

After what seemed like ages of overused jokes, time seemed to grow slower and slower. My vision grew blurry and unfocused as I stared blankly at the screen, the audio of the television melted away until it was just static to my ears. My eyes grew watery as I yawned and leaned further into the couch. The more I sank into comfort, the more I was pulled into sleepiness, despite having woken up not too long ago. Breathing calmly, I let the feeling pull me in.

_ Sleep. Sleep. _

I sat upright with a start, feeling a chill strike me through my body. With wide eyes, I looked down at my unfinished bowl of cereal now flipped over onto me. Cold milk was seeping through my grey shirt while Ringo gazed up at me with a wet face, looking ever so guilty.

“Agh, damn it,” I muttered, eyes looking back at the mess that was made on me. In seconds, delicate paws pressed against my lap as Ringo tried to lick up the mess of milk. Annoyed as I was, I just couldn’t be mad at this cat. 

“Didn’t I feed you?” I questioned, scoping up Ringo and setting her aside so I could stand up from the couch. Looking down at her, I gave a small smile. “You’re so…” my sentence was interrupted by a big yawn matched with a large stretch. Seems like I was still tired from being on the couch. Shaking my dazed head, I pat Ringo on the head and walked back to my room to change.

Hours of my uneventful day continued to go by, I continued to care for Ringo, read a book, and tried to keep warm in my red hoodie once the temperature dropped. However, it seemed no matter what I did to try and make time go faster, my mysterious exhaustion seemed to grow more heavy on my eyelids. For a moment, I considered just napping the rest of my day away, but there was something I needed to do first.

Standing next to a wall in my room, I reached up to remove a poster I had hanging up. Carefully, I set it down to reveal a blank wall in its place. From past experience, I learned to not be so obvious with the code to my secret workshop. Placing my right hand against the wall, I began to side my pointer finger against it.

“Circle the enemy, and prepare to square up. Face them, and have no heart to run. Don’t forget what marks the spot,” I whispered. After knocking twice, doors opened up before me as well as an array of engineering materials and projects. Blueprints and sketches littered walls, sticky notes galore joined them. Smiling, I stepped forth into my workshop and made my way to my messy desk. Pulling my office chair out, I removed my hoodie and sank into the seat.

Chilled air brushed against my skin as soon as my hoodie was taken off, causing me to shiver slightly. Ignoring the feeling, I lifted my left hand and cautiously moved it across my robot arm. Cool metal slid across my fingertips until it was met with the warmth of my shoulder. Here, I detached a few small latches, and twisted the outside of the artificial socket until a metallic sound was heard. Grunting, I took the arm away from my body and set it onto the desk. Moments of silence went by as I gazed at the prosthetic in blank thought. Soon after, I pulled out my tool box.

I wasn’t working on anything major, just doing a routine checkup. There were a couple of kinks I had discovered that needed to be worked out, but the job took no time at all. I began to finish up my last task when a large exhale left my mouth. Stubbornly, I attempted to ignore the tiredness I felt in my mind, but it only got worse from there. My vision once again grew fuzzy as the single robot arm on the desk morphed into two. Groaning, I let my head fall into my chest and eyes flutter close.

_ Sleep. Rest. Just go to sweet, sweet sleep. _

My heart jumped at the sound of objects crashing to the floor. I scrambled out of my chair so fast, I nearly fell over myself. Panting, I looked on the ground, spotting my tool box collapsed down below, tools scattered everywhere.

“Ah, faen!” I cursed with a face-plant. God, I can’t take anymore of this, how annoying. Sighing, I reached down to grab my robot arm, thankful that it didn’t fall over like everything else did. I positioned it perfectly until it could click onto my shoulder again. A small spark of energy flashed through my right side as the circuits in both my arm and right eye beamed a bright blue. I used my other hand to clean up while I waited for them to sync. Once they were connected, and the blue faded out, I was able to use both hands to straighten up much faster.

Night fell over onto my apartment, causing all of the shadows to blend into the darkness of everything. Ringo’s fur blended into the blackness as well, pretty much camouflaging into the surroundings. I only knew where she was because her cat bed was in the living room beside the couch, and she would be sleeping inside once it got late. However, I was not with her, but in my room, laying on my bed in a quiet panic.

2:12 AM. This is the time that I read on my phone. The time that Edd, Tom, and Matt had not returned and were still away. The time I had spent alone in my apartment with worry growing more and more. How long does it take to get last minute Halloween supplies again?

_ Jesus christ, what is going on?  _ Thoughts identical to that phrase swarmed around in my head as I scrolled through contacts on my phone. My hand gripped it tightly as Edd’s name came into my view. Calling him for what would be now the fourth time, I waited anxiously, trying to think of a possibility for why they would still be out this late.

_ A prank? Yeah, this whole thing is just a joke.  _ I was lying to myself. I checked their apartment buildings to see if they had come back without me noticing, but no one else was here other than me. The call I was waiting on soon went to a voicemail, flaring anger and frustration through my head. Now calling Matt, I could feel my body grow heavy, the most tired I had felt all day. I couldn’t blame myself this time, it was almost three in the morning.

Still, I continued to convince myself to wait up on everyone, yet this effort was short lived. The sleepier I got, the more I could feel the bed move underneath me, trying to hold me there in a soft, relaxed rest. I couldn’t though, I just, I needed to stay awake. Just a bit longer?

When Matt didn’t answer I snapped. Tired and pissed off from being tired, I gave up and quickly pushed down the covers of my bed. Forget all of this, I had waited for the three of them long enough. Once I had finally turned off the lights and laid my head against a pillow, my mind was finally at peace. A sigh of happiness echoed through the room as I leaned into my bed further, getting comfortable underneath the thick blanket.

Combined with the darkness and quiet, my thoughts began to grow cloudy. Lazily, I picked my phone and pressed the contacts app one final time. As confident as I was that Tom wouldn’t answer, I called him one more time anyway. Despite this, my exhausted body was practically telling me to sleep already, so my limp grip let the phone slip to the floor beneath me. 

3:00 AM. The time it was when reality slipped away from me. ☆ 

  
  



	3. Chapter 2: Where the Rainbow Lies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now in a completely new world, Tord has a lot of exploring to do. Oh, but what's this? Is someone else there?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back at it again! Thanks again for all of the love, hopefully, this one continues to be awesome! - Kai☆

☆ _Good. You’re asleep at last._

When I first began to become aware of my surroundings, my body laid in the same position I went to bed in. A strange feeling came over me when I could no longer feel my blankets, what once was a bed was now nothing at all. My eyes slowly opened up, only to be welcomed by darkness. When I finally processed where I was, I shot up in a confused state.

 _What is this?_ Questions filled my head as I carefully got to my feet. Even though I was in an odd, empty space, I wasn’t really alarmed. My dreams sometimes form before my very eyes, I’m sure it’s just taking a moment. Getting to my feet, I picked a random direction and started walking. The entire place was silent, not even my footsteps made a sound. I could only hear my breathing as I walked a path that seemed to never end.

I really hope this dream was a good one, and from how aware I was, I could tell I was already lucid. Nice, I dream that I would be able to control! Those were always the best to me, I could do anything I wanted here. I began thinking of what to do when I suddenly felt my stomach drop.

Screaming loudly, my body started to plummet down into the darkness, further and further, until light flooded my eyes. Bright, pastel pink covered me, surrounding me in a thick, foggy feeling. Wind whipped across my face as the pink started to clear away into a sky blue. 

The shock of the situation and the speed I was falling at made it hard for me to catch my breath. I started to gasp for air and try to compose myself when my gaze shifted quickly over to the sun. The rays weren’t blinding me weirdly enough, but the face that was staring back made me panic all over again. Finally, I noticed the end of my fall coming up to me in a flash. In seconds, power surged in my right side. A bang went off in my ears as I fired a large blast of energy at the ground, the force of it flinging me forwards and away from the earth below.

My side hit the ground roughly and shook the inside of my head. I felt my body burn as I rolled down the side of the hill I was on. Thick, tall grass poked against my skin, and finally, everything skid to a halt. I laid there for a moment, every inch of me shaking with pain and surprise. Then I gasped loudly, taking heavy breaths as I came to my senses.

“G-god, fuck!” I cried, slowly rolling over onto my back. I winced and began to examine my aching everything. My left hand had been scraped up and I’m sure bruises would cover my body later, but things could have been worse I decided. That doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt like hell though.

“I thought you were supposed to wake up before you hit the ground,” I grumbled to myself, groaning as I got to my feet. I began to think about the situation I was in, but the more I thought, the more confused I was. How am I feeling this much pain in a dream? Is it because I’m aware of everything? Looking at the sight before me, I was given more questions and no answers.

All around me, vibrant colors painted the land I was in. Looking up, I could pay more attention to the pink clouds in the sky that overlooked rolling hills below. A dense forest stood behind me a couple of miles away, birds in that area chipped loudly with different melodies. What made this place even stranger were the dancing flowers in the ground, the giant lollipops coming up from the grass, and the sun, who was still looking at me with a confused expression.

God, this place is awful. I feel like my eyes are gonna bleed.

After that moment, I just stood there, not too sure what to do from here. After a while, I gave the sun an uncomfortable look since it wouldn’t stop staring at me.

“Uh, can I help you?” I asked, annoyed at the fact I was actually talking to a flaming ball in the sky. The sun, appearing unable to speak, immediately looked away nervously. I just sighed and attempted a nicer approach. “Can you, um, tell me where I am?” The sun shyly looked back and gestured towards my right where a conveniently placed signpost stood. Well, that was quite easy.

Making my way over, I analyzed the few signs that pointed about on the signpost. The forest that lay south of me was named “Lucky Forest”, to the west was “Bubble Pop Falls”, and east was the “Wondrous Mountain”. What the hell is with all of these strange names? Finally checking the arrow that pointed north, I read the words “Rainbow Playhouse”. As much as I dreaded everything here, this playhouse place seemed like the only place that was for sure a building.

And in that building, hopefully, there would be people to talk to.

I didn’t want to waste much more time here, so hopefully, I could find this place sooner than later. I took a step forward to head to my destination when a slight noise stopped my movements. What was that? A tinking noise? It was light and rhythmic, coming in short bursts and following a beat of some kind. The alarming thing was that it was getting louder, getting closer. I grew tense as I felt power build up in my right side. Damn it, the one time I don’t have a gun.

“Hey!” I turned to face the sun once again. “What the heck is that?” I didn’t get a response because the sun was no longer looking at me, its attention on something else entirely. The sun was smiling wide at whatever was coming towards me. Samme det, I could take care of this encounter with a quick blast of my hand. Clutching my left hand around my right arm, I steadied my aim, then held fire when a familiar, square face came to light.

“What the- Matt?!” I blurted out loud. The person across the field from me stopped right in his tracks, tapping a tambourine against his hand, the source of the noise from earlier. Besides the instrument, all was silent until he smiled and squealed loudly, running towards me with open arms. With no time to react, I was tackled in a hug that sent both of us rolling down the side of another hill. Screams filled the air, one out of surprise, one out of delight, until we finally stopped at the bottom. Looking up, I saw Matt right in my face with the widest smile I had ever seen.

“Hey there new pal!” He exclaimed as I squirmed slightly from his yelling right in my ears.

“Dude, get off of me,” I replied and with no argument, Matt stood up with a smile that was somehow bigger than it was a few seconds ago.

“It’s so good to finally have a new friend around here! Oh, you have no idea how fun it’s gonna be with you around!” giggled Matt. I got to my feet with nothing but perplexity on my face. New friend? Does he not know who I am?

“Matt, it’s me. Tord?” My attempt to jog his memory failed as the ginger continued to look at me with the same, jolly expression. 

“Tord… Torrrrrrrd… nope! Not ringing a bell!” Matt shrugged gleely with his clinking tambourine. Why was he acting like this? On second thought, his words and actions weren’t the only things weird about him.

There was no hoodie or overcoat to be seen, only a purple T-shirt, green bow-tie, and denim overalls dyed purple as well. An assortment of bracelets covered his arms, yet no shoes covered his feet, there were just socks in a grass field. And of course, to top it all off, a smiley face pin rested on his left shoulder strap, making me uncomfortable at how it seemed to glare at me.

“What the hell are you wearing?” I just had to ask, forgetting my previous question entirely.

“Hey, hey! Shush!” Matt exclaimed, getting close to my face and holding a finger to his lips. “No terrible language here.” I stared at the man with an expression of disbelief.

“Wha-” the loud shushing sounds coming from Matt cut me off, and with an annoyed grunt, I backed away from him. “Why are you being so weird?” I snapped.

“Pfft me? You’re the one who’s being weird. Turn that frown upside down, won’t you?” 

“Why do you care all of a sudden if I cuss?”

“It’s our rule of course!” I froze. Did he just say “our”, like there were other people here? Matt spotted my changed face and questioned me? “What’s the matter, pal?”

“Who else is here?” I asked quickly. “Are Edd and Tom here as well?”

“Well, I don’t know who those guys are, but they’re definitely other people here!” said Matt with a glimmering smile. I honestly felt kind of reassured. Matt was odd anyway, so I guess him acting weirder in a dream would make sense. It would be nice to find other people who were actually normal though, so I was eager to get a move on.

“Do you know how to get to anyone else from here?” I asked, praying Matt at least knew something. To my relief, the ginger nodded vigorously.

“Just follow me!” Matt shouted, looking like he would jump out of his own skin from excitement. “Let’s head down these hills and straight ahead, right to the Rainbow Playhouse!!!” The last part of Matt’s shrilling voice made me groan and cover my ears. Why was he so loud and dramatic two inches away from me? 

“You don’t have to shout like that you know,” I grumbled, but the peppy tambourine player was already bounding down the hill below us. With a sigh, I tried to keep myself together and followed not too far behind.

_Just chill out. Play along until you wake up, then, hopefully, you’ll never dream about this again._

The trip to our destination probably wasn’t that long, but all of the little things that annoyed me made it feel like an eternity. Everything was so bright, it was starting to get to my head. I could feel my forehead start to pulse with a headache, and Matt’s endless tambourine playing didn’t help either. I could also hear him humming faintly a song I didn’t feel like trying to recognize, so I ignored it.

Occasionally, I would glance up at the sky, seeing the sun above with the happiest smile as it followed Matt and I. The sun and Matt seemed to be close friends as Matt kept talking to it during our walk. Every time they tried to talk to me however, I tried to stay out of it. I was left to wander through the grass, thinking about my friends in the real world. Anxiously, I wondered if they were okay, wondered if they ever got back to the apartment.

My thoughts vanished once I bumped straight into Matt’s back. He had stopped dead in his tracks, only silence had come out of his lips. 

“What?” I questioned quickly. “Are we finally here?”

“Oh my word, I almost forgot,” spoke Matt in a hushed voice.

“What is it?” I insisted once again, trying to look over his shoulder.

“It’s… it’s Bounce-shroom season!” a child-like scream came out of Matt before he ran down the final hill, grabbing my wrist and dragging me with him. I didn’t have time to pull away as the two of us zoomed towards these gigantic, red and white mushrooms. I was shoved towards it in seconds, tripping over myself and into the mushroom’s top.

As soon as my back made contact with the mushroom, I began to slowly sink into it. Panic filled my head as I continued to get sucked in like someone stuck in quicksand. I felt the weight shift beside me as Matt laid next to me and started sinking in as well.

“How are you not concerned about this?!” I bellowed, trying to move in a way that would get me out. 

“Pfft, it’s not gonna hurt us silly! Now stop moving or we won’t go at the same time.” Matt responded with a smile. Still, I wasn’t comforted by this, only getting more confused by the second.

“What do you mean?!” I cried, then abruptly froze when Matt and I stopped sinking. There was a small creaking noise before the mushroom sprang upwards with a speed that knocked the wind out of me. A shaky scream sounded in the air from me as the two of us left the ground. Matt was screaming too, but with pure thrill in his voice.

“Here comes the next one!” the ginger giggled as gravity took its toll, pulling us right back to the ground again. My stomach flipped around as I landed in the next mushroom, and I couldn’t even catch my breath before being forced up into the air again. It got to the point where I couldn’t tell which direction was up and which was down. Everything was a blur to me.

God, make it stop.

Please, just make it stop.

“Mr. Sunshine! What in the world are you doing?” I could hear a voice call through the sickening daze I was in. I couldn’t tell from where though, maybe I didn’t hear it at all because I don’t know a “Mr. Sunshine”. The constant spinning must have been messing with my thought process. To my surprise, Matt had answered back to the newcomer.

“Oh! Sorry! I just couldn’t pass up this opportunity of fun!” Matt laughed and grabbed my arm mid-air. In seconds, we were down on solid ground, but as soon as Matt let go of me, I collapsed. Panting, I curled up on myself and grabbed my dizzied head. I really wanted to puke, but I managed to hold it in and yell out in agony instead.

“Whatever is the matter with him?” the new guy asked. Matt just chuckled.

“It’s his first time playing on the Bounce-shrooms. I probably should’ve gone easier on him. Oopsie!” I groaned at Matt’s silly tone and managed to roll over and sit up.

“Ah, come on now my friend. Lighten up,” Since I finally composed myself, I recognized the voice of the new person, although it was weird hearing him this enthusiastic, or with a monocle by his left eye. Moving my gaze slowly upwards, my eyes were met with brown loafers, burnt orange pants, and a bright blue sweater. A yellow shirt could be seen from the v-neck as well as a white tie. Finally, I saw those empty eyes and spiky hair.

“Tom?” I gasped and quickly stood up, then remembered I still felt sick and dizzy and sat down again.

“Who?” Tom questioned me with a confused smile.

“I know right? He’s been doing that all day to me!” Matt added. “He keeps calling ‘Matt’! Hehe, he’s so silly!” My head quickly shot up to meet both of them as laughter filled the air. Glaring slightly, I managed to get up this time and ask some questions.

“Is that not your name?” My words were met with more snickers until Tom finally answered back.

“Sorry, allow us to introduce ourselves properly,” Tom smiled wide and reached into his sweater pocket by his chest. “Mr. Lollipop. It is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance,” he said as he smoothly pulled out a pink lollipop for me. I looked at it skeptically, not knowing what to do.

“Uh, no thank you,” I decided, my response causing Tom’s smile to falter slightly as he put the lollipop in his mouth.

“And I’m Mr. Sunshine!” Matt popped up, breaking the awkward silence between Tom and I. However, I was still quiet as I tried to process everything, the weird names, the outfits, this whole place that looked like it came out of a kids book. I just couldn’t understand it.

“You know, it is rude not to introduce yourself back, friend,” I heard Tom say as he moved the lollipop to the side of his mouth.

“Tord,” I answered simply, still unable to wipe off the confused expression I had. My face finally broke when I heard Tom gasp beside me. He then quickly turned to Matt.

“Mr. Sunshine, you did not tell me that this person was not from here,” spoke Tom. “Mr. Rainbow has been expecting him for days now.”

“Oh, don’t worry! We were actually just heading to the playhouse now! Just got a little distracted, hehe!” Matt replied. Meanwhile, I was growing tired of being left out of conversations that I didn’t understand, especially ones about me.

“Hey!” I snapped, gaining glances from the two of them. “Matt, Tom-”

“Mr. Lollipop,” Tom tried correcting me, but I wasn’t having it.

“There is no way in hell I am calling you that,” Tom scrunched up his face at me and turned back to Matt.

“Our new friend is quite insolent, is he not?” Tom uttered to the ginger who gave me a weird, pleading look. A few seconds went by before I sighed and tried once again to speak.

“Mr. Sunshine, Mr. Lollipop,” I began, earning noises of approval from the both of them. “What do you mean by ‘expecting me’? You guys knew I was coming to…” I trailed off, not knowing what this world was called.

“You’re in Smileland!” Mr. Sunshine finished for me. I tried to hide a cringe as I heard the name. Whoever was naming these places must have run out of ideas or something, these names were awful.

“Yeah, that,” I responded. “How long did you know I was going to come here?”

“For quite a while friend,” said Mr. Lollipop. “Mr. Rainbow told us he had a hunch someone from another world was arriving. Alas, he never informed us of why he was waiting for you.”

“You don’t know if I’m the person you’re looking for. It could be anyone else,” I countered.

“Oh please, your name is ‘Tord’ and you undoubtedly fell from the sky, yes?” I went quiet at the brit’s remark, knowing that there was no way to argue with that. 

“Well, whatever,” I uttered. “I honestly have nowhere else to go, so I guess I have no choice but to stick with you two,” I began to doubt my decision once I saw the faces of the others glow, smiles growing to twice their size. I rolled my eyes in response, once again wondering why I haven’t woken up yet. “Let’s just get a move on.”

“Hold the haste, friend,” Mr. Lollipop interrupted. “There is a much easier way to get to our destination without having to progress as far.” I raised an eyebrow as he pointed at the sky. Right on cue, a bright, sparkling rainbow streaked through the clouds, landing onto the ground. I took one look at it in silence.

“No,” I said with an unamused face.

“Torrrrrrd, come on!” Mr. Sunshine cried. “This will lead us right to him!”

“Precisely. ‘A rainbow in the sky means Mr. Rainbow is nearby’.” Mr. Lollipop added. He began to walk up the rainbow effortlessly with no words. Speechless, I tried to find something to say out of protest. Mr. Sunshine ignored me, however, grabbing my wrist once again and yanking me up the rainbow.

What had just happened? What is going on? How did I get to this point at all? The questions I had were starting to hurt my mind, that and the thought of falling off of the rainbow at this height. The sun, watching us walk along, spotted my frown and did the same back at me. It probably was trying to comfort me, but the only thing that would make me feel better was waking up and forgetting this weird dream even happened. ☆


	4. Chapter 3: Something Clicked

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now accompanied by Mr. Sunshine and Mr. Lollipop, Tord, still hoping to get back to the real world, is off to find the last member of the group somewhere over the rainbow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter came out pretty quick, but I am going to take it easy from now on. Still, enjoy yourselves, and thanks again for the support! It makes every update so worth it. - Kai☆

☆ It was about ten minutes before Mr. Sunshine, Mr. Lollipop, and I reached the peak of the rainbow. I was silent, focusing on keeping my legs steady on this unsafe path with no railing whatsoever. I glanced over at the other two, not understanding how they could be so careless up here. The weird Matt was dancing around, _still_ tapping that tambourine, while Mr. Lollipop clapped along with no worries at all.

Looking over at the ground beneath us, I began to get annoyed. Supposedly, this path was meant to be a shorter route to get to “Mr. Rainbow”, but from what I could tell, the walking distance was so far the exact same. Unable to take anymore of this, I decided to speak for the first time during the whole trip.

“I thought you said this saw faster,” I muttered, my words getting the attention of Mr. Lollipop. The eyeless man turned his head to face me.

“My, my, friend, are you always this restless?” he questioned with a smirk. I glared in response, not in the mood for any of Mr. L’s witty remarks.

“Just answer the question, please,” I spoke lowly, biting back a string of insults. Mr. Lollipop just smiled wider and turned away from me, tilting his head up towards the sky.

“We will be there soon, believe me,” he said, chuckling. “Until then, why not try to enjoy the view, friend?” 

_Yeah right,_ I thought, shaking my head. I continued to walk quietly as Mr. Lollipop went back to talking with Mr. Sunshine. With no one else speaking to me, I began to let my head wander, something I knew I should avoid doing. Absentmindedly, I moved the fingers of my robot arm around in my hoodie pocket, hearing the sound of the metal sliding against each other.

I sighed to myself, slowly reaching out my left hand to lightly touch the other, the great contrast making me shudder. Så flaut… I should be over this by now. My robot arm is a benefit, it’s helped me so much...

“We’re here!!!” the scream of Mr. Sunshine yanked me out of my inner monologue. Jerking my head up, I rushed over to see what he was talking about, only to see more rainbow. I growled slightly, looking at the ginger with an irritated look.

“We’re still up here,” I grumbled.

“Yeah, I know!” Mr. Sunshine giggled. From the corner of my eye, I could see the sun (named Sunny, go figure) laughing too. As my annoyance shifted to confusion, Mr. Lollipop began to speak.

“Time for the ‘shortcut’ of our journey,” he said, and with no other words, sat down on the rainbow. I didn’t even get the chance to ask what he was doing before Mr. Sunshine did the same.

“Come on, don’t be scared, pal!” said Mr. S. “Just think of it as a… giant slide!” My eyes went wide when I finally realized what we were doing. Instantly, I took a couple of steps back.

“You’re kidding me,” my voice shook in my throat. “Don’t you know how high up we are?” Mr. Sunshine pouted at me in response.

“You’re such a worrier! Come on! This is the only way!” he cried.

“He is correct,” Mr. Lollipop intervened. “Even if you wanted to turn around, you will have to slide down the other way as well,” I felt my fists clench up slightly at his words.

“Jeg kjenner det geni,” I hissed, but knew that Mr. Lollipop was for sure right. I felt everything in me grow tense as I eyeballed the drop, the view making me dizzy at the sheer height. Reluctantly, I took slow steps over to the rest of the group and sat down on the rainbow. I tried hard to keep my breathing slow while I readied myself, even if nothing seemed to be working. “And… now?” I asked with regret in my tone. Suddenly, I felt a tight grip on my wrist as Mr. Sunshine grabbed it.

“We GO!!!” Excalming loudly, Mr. Sunshine leaned forward, inching down the rainbow, until a jarring burst of speed sent us both flying down the side. I clenched my teeth at first, but as the drop grew faster, I couldn’t help but scream. The air flew into my eyes making it hard to see everything, and it felt like my stomach was flying up through my body. 

I could tell Mr. L was right beside us, somehow silent on the way down with nothing by a smile on his face. Unlike him, Mr. S was yelling right with me out of pure joy, his right hand somehow still playing the tambourine. Quicker than I had expected, the ground started to come up at the three of us. Panic began to settle in my mind, not knowing how any of us would be able to get off of here safely. Damn it, we’re gonna kill ourselves this way!

That’s when I felt things move beneath us, a change in the course of the rainbow. Gradually, the three of us began to slow down, the rainbow going from a drop to a flatter surface. It was almost as if it was trying to catch us. Soon everyone stopped completely, the rainbow dropping us lightly onto the ground.

I carefully wobbled to my feet as I tried to catch my breath. I cringed as Mr. Sunshine let go of my wrist to cheer loudly with delight.

“Oh wow!! Wasn’t that fun everyone?” Mr. Sunshine asked, continuing to squeal like a child. Mr. Lollipop walked over to us, dusting himself off as he did.

“That will always be very enjoyable,” he responded, taking out the lollipop stick in his mouth that was now completely clean. He then waved his hand in front of it. As it moved away, a brand new, now yellow lollipop was revealed. I stared the whole time, kind of in awe of what Mr. Lollipop had just done. He must have noticed I was watching when he chuckled.

“Find my magic show amusing?” Mr. Lollipop asked, earning a look of surprise from me. I can’t possibly be getting interested in all of these little tricks. This was all still a dream, nothing special.

“Yeah, it’s kinda cool,” I half admitted, the brit grinning in response.

“Well, this is only the beginning of that, friend,” Mr. Lollipop announced, pointing out into the distance in front of us. Mr. Sunshine gasped excitedly, shuffling his feet as if anticipating something. Even Sunny above us seemed to wiggle back and forth in the sky expectantly.

Then, out of nowhere, trumpets began to sound with a noise so grand I felt like I was being shaken. The flowers on the ground all seemed to lean towards the view in front of us, and Sunny began to aim their sunbeams to create a spotlight below. I began to get anxious myself, this kind of introduction for a person has to mean something.

“Gather around, everyone! Prepare to be amazed at the most colorful person that you’ve ever seen!” A booming voice announced, only making me more eager to see who I assume to be the “Edd” of this world. “The one the only, Mr. Rainbow!” At this, a poof of pink clouds appeared and faded, showing,

Nothing.

Wha… what? I looked around in shock, wondering what was even going on. What was the point of that big show if nothing even happened. Did those two really trick me into thinking someone else was here? No wait, something isn’t right. Why, I feel off. My breath hitched as I felt something move behind me.

“I gotcha!” With a yelp, I lunged away from the person in hiding. My right eye glowed with a blue energy out of reflex, but just as quickly as it came, the power faded upon seeing the final member of the group.

Dressed in a green trench coat, green pants, and black dress shoes, he almost looked like a leprechaun. A red shirt could be seen beneath the coat, a white neck piece was worn, and finally, a green tophat with a red ribbon was on his head. A rainbow pin was also attached, completing the outfit of Mr. Rainbow. A huge smile spread across his face as he snickered at my reaction.

“Quite jumpy, aren’t cha?” he commented while I chuckled nervously. What a weird way to say hello. “Hey now buddy, don’t cha worry. I don’t bite, I swear,” I could see a glint in his eyes as Mr. Rainbow bowed, holding his hand out for me. “Nice to finally meet cha. You must be Tord. And, I’m sure you already know me!” I took a pause before shaking Mr. R’s hand.

“Yeah, apparently from the guys over here, you were expecting me,” I said, a tinge of concern in my voice from how weird this all seemed. Yet Mr. Rainbow wasn’t questioning anything at all.

“Yep, I certainly did. For an important reason too,” he spoke. I looked right at him, wondering what could be so important that I’d end up in a place like this.

“So, why?” I asked cautiously.

“Yeah, I wanna know too!” Mr. Sunshine bellowed.

“Indeed. It is quite curious. For what cause would we need an outsider?” Mr. Lollipop quizzed the situation. The two of them were right, while Mr. L was a bit more rude about it, what was I here for? Seconds painfully went by before I got an answer.

“Cuz it was gettin’ lonely down here!” Mr. Rainbow announced. I couldn’t help but laugh a bit at his reply, so this guy has jokes huh? However, no one else was laughing, and my smile disappeared entirely.

“Oh, you’re serious,” I said quietly. Mr. Rainbow’s grin gleamed as he wrapped his arms around Mr. Sunshine and Mr. Lollipop. He held them close to his side in a kind of group hug.

“Ya see, my friends and I have been the only people in this world for a long as we can remember,” Mr. R began. “And as grand as this world looks, there’s actually not much to it, especially when there’s no one else in it. So, I brought you here as a gift to my buddies, something they’ve been wishin’ for their whole lives. A new friend at last.”

Mr. Sunshine made a loud noise of surprise, which was quickly followed by a delighted cheer. Mr. Lollipop also looked excited, moving around with the ginger in a victory dance. The three of them started to celebrate, but I stood as still as a statue, trying to comprehend it all. With a shallow breath, I spoke up.

“You guys know I can’t stay here, right?” I muttered, my words causing the laughter to fade away. Mr. Sunshine quickly met my gaze with another saddened look.

“Wait, you can’t stay?” he asked desperately. “But Tord, you have to stay!” All I could do was sigh in response.

“You guys already know that I’m not from here. You shouldn’t act surprised,” my tone was growing more serious by the second. Everything here was obnoxious and childish, none of which changed my opinion about this place. Even if this place was appealing to me, I still wanted to leave, wake up, and see if my friends were okay. As much as I tried, the other three didn’t seem convinced.

“What ever could be so important in your world that you have to leave so soon?” Mr. Lollipop questioned, flaring up irritation in me since he couldn’t possibly understand.

“Well, that’s my business,” I replied, growing more defensive. I began to back away when I noticed that Mr. Rainbow was making intense eye contact with me, still smiling a smile that hadn’t broken or faltered. I gulped slightly, beginning to grow uneasy. “Can you all just please tell me how to get out of here?” I shuddered as Mr. Rainbow began to start humming a tune, one that sounded just like what Mr. Sunshine was humming earlier.

“Can’t cha at least stay for a song?” Mr. Rainbow pleaded, the tune travelling to Mr. Sunshine, the tempo of his tambourine finally making sense. It then bounced to Mr. Lollipop as he snapped his fingers. The more familiar the sound got, the more anxiety shot through my chest. At last, the song rang through the air, a melody coming up out of nowhere, lyrics hitting me in an instant. 

No. No, come on.

“Sunshine, Lollipops, and Rainbows! Everything that's wonderful is what I feel when we’re together!” 

All three of them were singing it, that dumb song.

“Brighter than a lucky penny,”

I covered my ears, but I could still hear it, racking my brian.

“When you feel that rain, just disappears dear, and I feel so fine,”

The last part was like a blur, everything was as I sped through the grass. My footsteps thundered from under me as I ran, trying to escape the song, trying to escape this world. This wasn’t a dream, this was a nightmare, a nightmare that for some reason I wasn’t waking up from. Maybe if I just kept running, going on and on until I couldn’t anymore. Just let me get back to the real world.

Agh, no matter how far away I got, the music seemed so close to me. As a matter of fact, it seemed to be getting louder, growing more and more until it was all I could think about. 

“Hold kjeft! Hold kjeft nå!” My throat was getting raw from crying out, my steps were starting to slow, and my energy was dwindling. It all fell apart the moment I felt my body become constricted, something was tightening around me. Then, with a powerful force, I was yanked backward, all the running I did meaning nothing.

My eyes shut tight as I flew through the air. Finally, I stopped, opening my eyes to see a bright rainbow that had me trapped and unable to move. I instantly began to struggle, trying my hardest to get out somehow, but it earned me a wincing pain as the rainbow grew tighter around me. I stopped moving for a moment, but I was still panting and freaking out. I glared angrily at the three singers who had finally stopped as they walked over to me. Mr. Rainbow stood closest, smiling at me with a concerned look.

“You didn’t like the song, buddy?” he asked innocently, but his eyes seemed all knowing. He knows doesn’t he? He knows I hate that song. Anger flashed through me again as I moved about once more.

“What the hell do you want from me?! Let me-” A choked gasp left my mouth as the rainbow grew even tighter, my ability to breathe getting more and more difficult. My blood ran cold, knowing that if I moved again, I could really wound myself. I could hear Mr. Sunshine and Mr. Lollipop make noises of shock.

“Rainbow…” the brit warned cautiously.

“You’re gonna hurt him!” Mr. Sunshine screamed. Mr. Rainbow continued to look at me, growing more and more upset by my face. I looked back, my heart racing in my chest more and more, then let my eyelids close from the acceptance of the situation.

Then the pressure lifted away.

I fell to the ground with a cry of agony, heaving breaths coming up from my body. Everything was stinging and sore. With a horrified look, my head shot up to meet Mr. Rainbow who was backing up with a distressed look.

"I… I'm sorry buddy," he uttered. "I didn't mean to get so aggressive. I just worked really hard to get’cha here and… silly me. I thought this situation would have played out differently," I just shook my head in response, scooting away in desperation.

"Just stay away from me!" I cried, power moving through my right side uncontrollably. My charging robot arm flew up to meet the faces of the other three, the group looking horrified in response. "I'll blow your heads off!"

"Please Tord, we're sorry!!" Mr. Sunshine whimpered, hiding behind Mr. Rainbow. Mr. Lollipops held his hands up in silent surrender. Mr. R stuck out his arms in front of them both, standing defensively with a tense face. Their pleas hit me like a truck, their faces looking painfully familiar.

No. Wait no.

I can't do this again.

My left hand held my head as the pent up energy began to sting. I quickly put my other hand down in an attempt to shut it off, but I knew all the stress was starting to make the system overload. I barely noticed the hurried footsteps that were coming towards me.

"Hey, hey, stop it buddy or you're gonna hurt’cha self," Mr. Rainbow softly said to me, bending down to my level. "I'm too sure how that thingy works, but from the looks of it, it's taking a lot out of you. Ya gotta relax. Breathe."

My mouth opened up to speak, but all that left were shaky breaths and broken words. My eyes caught a glimpse of Mr. Rainbows smile and I began to feel the power in me start to dissipate. My head was still pounding, but my body no longer shivered under all of the pressure. I looked at the ground awkwardly as Mr. R helped me to my feet. The atmosphere still seemed tense as no one said anything else for a while.

“So… we all kinda got off on the wrong foot huh?” Mr. Sunshine finally spoke. Mr. Lollipop shook his head with a sigh.

“Definitely,” he agreed. “Why did you attack us like that, friend?” I looked over at the two of them, the scared looks on their faces still fresh in my mind. I scratched the back of my head with a look of shame in my eyes.

“I uh, well, I just, the song,” That was all I could say. Mr. S and Mr. L clearly didn’t understand as weird looks were still seen on them. Mr. Rainbow surprisingly covered up for me.

“I don’t think buddy here likes the song,” he explained. Sounds of realization and apologies filled the air as Mr. Sunshine and Mr. Lollipop realized it all.

“That’s one of the reasons I can’t stay here,” I elaborated. “This place just triggers something in me, that and I have important things to get back to so…” my words fell away as disappointment returned to the trio. The sadness persisted until a light shined in Mr. Rainbow’s eyes, telling me he had just thought of something. I worriedly awaited his idea with furrowed brows.

“You’re tryin’ to wake up right?” He asked me and I simply nodded. The burnett clasped his hands together with a grin. “Ya’know, sometimes sleepin’ in a dream can wake you up in the real world! Ever heard of that buddy?” My eyes went wide, I have heard of that! A small, hopeful smile returned to me at Mr. Rainbow”s words.

“You may be on to something!” I gleamed, excitement swelling up inside of me. “But where would there be any beds?” The trio all looked at each other with knowing eyes, then stepped away, revealing a huge building in the distance. My jaw dropped, nobody told me that the “Rainbow Playhouse” was a whole mansion.

The building was three stories tall and was painted a bright yellow with doodles littered all over it. A pink, stone path led to a white, metal gate with a sun, lollipop, and rainbow on it, all of it leading to a bold, red, front door.

“Jesus,” I muttered.

“Hm, maybe we can find a bed in there,” Mr. Rainbow snickered beside me.

“Or two,” Mr. Lollipop added with a smile.

“Or a gazillion!!!” Mr. Sunshine shouted, causing laughs to leave all of us. 

“Well,” Mr. Rainbow said when all of the laughter faded, “Before ya head off to sleep, ya might as well take a tour of the place,” I pondered the question, looking at the palace before us with curious thoughts. As much as I hated this place, there really was no reason for me to skip this opportunity, and maybe I could feel a bit better about what happened earlier. I was still going to leave regardless, so with a bright smile, I complied.

Everyone excitedly began to chatter to me as we quickly made our way to the Rainbow Playhouse. Stepping right into the building, two grand staircases stood tall on both sides of the hall. My eyes glimmered at the lights reflecting onto the shiny, tile floors, while my arms outstretched themselves at the wide open space all around.

Every room was spacious, kitchen, bathrooms, living room, and there were so many extra rooms too. I couldn’t think straight as one minute I was swimming in a ball pit, and the next I was eating a cupcake. Playscapes, frisbee, ziplining, there was so much to do and see. Ah, it had been so long since I played laser tag, and I’ve never had a macaroon in my life! And look at this hall of mirrors, it’s so-

Off.

I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror, sprinkles and streamers in my hair, a yo-yo in my hand. What was I even doing? How long had I been here. I walked over, taking a closer look at myself, glaring at the scars on my face that were taking me back to reality. All the glee disappeared from me, leaving an empty feeling of longing to make a knot in my stomach. I heard the laughter cease from behind me, seeing Mr. Rainbow look over to me in the view of the mirror.

“Tord? You okay, buddy?” he asked me as I slowly looked over to him.

“Do you know where a spare bedroom is?” I questioned, voice serious this time. Mr. Rainbow looked surprised, but nodded anyway.

“Uh, follow me,” he muttered and began to walk past Mr. S and Mr. L. I could hear notes of that awful song begin to start up as the two of them tried to sing to me a final time. I quickly put up a hand to stop them as I was not in the mood.

“Mr. Sunshine, tell Sunny they need to go night night,” Mr. Rainbow said as he walked by. “It’s bedtime for all of us,” Mr. Sunshine nodded with a frown, but with a jingle of his tambourine, the ginger bounded over to a window and opened it wide.

“Night night!” I could hear him say from far behind me. Quickly, the light outside began to grow darker and darker, the sunset leaving a sky of stars to appear above. Oddly enough, I didn’t see a moon, but as soon as my eyes met with the sight of the bed, the thought escaped my mind. I quickly entered the room, halting to see that Mr. Rainbow was still standing at the doorway.

“Yes?” I asked impatiently. Mr. Rainbow looked at me and grinned at me, a smile that seemed to be forced onto his face.

“Are you sure you wanna go?” the brunette asked, causing me to grow annoyed. “I get it, you want to leave and that’s alright. But, maybe if you give this world a chance, you’ll actually enjoy it!!”

“I already made up my mind,” I said sharply, getting a disappointed sigh from Mr. Rainbow in response.

“We’re gonna miss you buddy,” he said softly. “Will you come back?”

“Uh, sure,” I lied, wanting to quickly get this all over with. Mr. R took one final look at me before backing away and slowly closing the door shut. I stayed in the same spot until I heard the sound of his footsteps echo away from the door. Once only silence reigned, I got the space around me comfortable, taking down creepy paintings of smiley faces and closing the window curtains shut. After attempting to get out all of the crap that was in my hair, I quickly got into the bed and shut my eyes.

It was difficult to sleep at first, tossing and turning, random thoughts and doubts flying around like a storm inside me. After a while of frustration, I decided to try and not pay attention to anything around me. Think, think of where I wanted to be, think about the people I wanted to see. Feelings around me seemed to fade away, figures were coming up from the darkness under my eyes. Faces I knew all too well were looking at me, smiling, waiting for me to wake up.

_Breathe._

The image before me stayed, I was so close to reality, I might even be able to reach out a hand to it all.

_Think of nothing else. Don’t you hear that?_

Things stopped forming, everything was now distant, I could hear something.

Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

Tock.

Then something

c l i c k e d.

  
  
  


My eyes flew open at the light of day flooding in through my window. I slowly sat up in my bed, looking around cluelessly at my surroundings. How strange, I felt light headed, stuck in a daze that left me staring blankly at the wall.

“Tord!” a voice called out to me. “Come on pal, breakfast is ready!” My drowsiness left me at once, causing me to jump out of bed.

“Coming Mr. Sunshine!” I shouted back, opening the door wide with an eagerness to start the day. ☆


End file.
